


complicated people (leading complicated lives)

by sirenofodysseus



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Coffee Not Tea, Cookies, First Meetings, Gen, Serial Killers are Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 03:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7151825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirenofodysseus/pseuds/sirenofodysseus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post “Red Dawn”; Lisbon has an unexpected visitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	complicated people (leading complicated lives)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something to wet my whistle. I obviously own nothing.

            “Red John,” is the first thing Teresa Lisbon says when she catches him in the living room of her apartment, after he’s been sitting on her couch for nearly six hours and fifteen minutes. He waits for her to pull out her service weapon _or_ to grab her cellphone to phone her precious CBI for help – but instead, all she does is turn into the kitchen and ask if he wants _coffee_ or _tea_. He tries to school his surprise from him, but Agent Lisbon’s quirking lips tell him she knows _exactly_ how surprised he is at her nonchalant greeting. “I’ve been waiting for you to introduce yourself to me for months now.”

            “Hopefully,” he replies. “I don’t disappoint.” He feels her fleeting glance on him, his entire face masked, before she disappears back into the kitchen and he calls out, “I think I’ll take that coffee, by the way. No sugar, no cream, just black.”

 

::::

 

            They say nothing else, until they’ve both taken over her kitchen counter with their coffee mugs and a selection of misshapen cookies that he’s _pretty_ sure are three years old.

            He doesn’t say thank you. “What you are doing needs to stop immediately, Agent Lisbon.” For a moment, she looks at him in confusion and then, she fixes him with a timid stare. “While I certainly admire your endeavor to _save_ Mr. Jane; this particular endeavor will _certainly_ not be worth it, especially if you lose all self-respect because of your more reckless decisions.”

            Agent Lisbon blinks once, before she outright laughs. “You…you’re concerned about _my_ respect and career paths? What…what do my decisions matter to you?” He waits until she’s finished laughing, her fingers gripping the counter edge to keep herself upright.  “You can’t be serious.”

            Red John smiles. “It matters very much to me, Agent Lisbon. My crusade isn’t about costing you or Agents Rigsby and Cho positions within the Bureau.” He pauses and interrupts her, before she can squeeze out the first semi-syllable. “It’s about redeeming my good name; something, Mr. Jane took from me with all of this _murdering_ nonsense.”

            Agent Lisbon continues to stare. “Aside from fully deserving the name with the murdering of innocents, and the breaking-and-entering into my home?” When he doesn’t reply immediately (because _god_ , he admires quick witted women), he watches her fists clench and hears her delicate snort. “And if you tell me you’re innocent, I’ll make good use of the Glock in my holster.”

            “I wouldn’t do such a thing,” he admits, not bothering to point out that she’s without her signature weapon currently. “I fully admit to each of my crimes. _However_ , these so-called “innocent individuals” are not so innocent when you peel back the layers.” He drinks from his mug and avoids her gaze. “Take Angela Ruskin-Jane, for example.” Agent Lisbon’s _brief_ flicker of surprise confirms his knowledge that though she and Mr. Jane have been partners for nearly a year at the CBI, Mr. Jane hasn’t yet confided anything in her of major importance – which is honestly sad. What is the point of having a partner, if you cannot confide in them? “She cheated on her husband with one of his clients, _many_ times over the last three years. Did you honestly believe that little Charlotte was Mr. Jane’s child, Agent Lisbon?”

            “Why are you telling me this?” Agent Lisbon finally asks and he merely shrugs.

            “Why wouldn’t I tell you these things?” He asks, just as evenly. It’s truly laughable just how _much_ Mr. Jane keeps his so-called _friends_ in the darkness, especially when it comes to him. He knows Mr. Jane has deeply rooted trust issues (not that he can actually _blame_ the man, considering his wife’s infidelity and the awful childhood he had), but there’s only so much you can keep from individuals before they start to get annoyed. He’s never kept a single secret from any of his friends and although they are disposable, they all know that prior to coming onboard. “If you’re still insistent on helping Mr. Jane with his quest for vengeance, don’t you need or want to know the truth?”

            “He insists I have plausible deniability,” Agent Lisbon admits with the roll of her eyes, before she sips from her cooling coffee. “I get his concern, but I can handle myself. I own several guns.” She makes a point of eyeing the fruit bowl on her chipped counter and he smiles.

            “You almost nearly died,” he points out, although Mr. Jane nearly killing Agent Lisbon isn’t a huge surprise anymore. The first time, it was over the consultant’s lack of tact. The last time, it was over his _illegal_ tactic to get a young mother to confess to the murder of her daughter. “Please don’t be offended,” he adds at her eye narrowing. “You are _highly_ capable of defending yourself. I just think you’d have to do it less if Mr. Jane kept you all in the loop.”

            “Thank you?” Agent Lisbon says and he cannot help but smile at her endearing awkwardness. “I don’t know the _exact_ etiquette needed when a psychopath compliments you, so please forgive my lack of elocution.” The amount of sarcasm present in her tone forces him to chuckle; he had heard from various others that Teresa Lisbon was a fresh of breath air, compared to the past Senior Agents who had directed the Serious Crimes Unit—and per usual, his friends were never wrong about the state of affairs within the CBI. He’s _almost_ gleeful that the Sacramento Police Department passed the buck on his case, as he knows none of the SPD departmental heads could even _hold_ a candle to the woman before him. Especially considering most of them were men in their late forties.

            “You’re quite alright, Agent,” and he means that in every way too.  


End file.
